general information
on the radio systemThe Central African
Republic is one of the world's poorest countries with less than a third
of children going to school and life expectancy below 40 years. In the
late 1990s the Central African Republic underwent a deep political and
economical crisis, which lead to a UN mission to this country. A national
reconciliation forum was held in September-October 2003. It also
recommended the revision of the media laws and the decriminalisation of
these laws. In March 2004, Communications Minister Parfait Mbay received
a revised bill of law on the freedom of press. The Special Representative
of the UN Secretary-General, Lamine Cisse, handed over the bill, which
was drafted by experts in the Ministry of Communications with financial
and logistic support from the UN Peace-building Support Office in the CAR
(BONUCA). In the annual worldwide index of press freedom published by Reporters
Without Borders in October 2004, the Central African Republic was listed
as no. 104 of 167 countries surveyed.

About
1 Mio of the 3.5 Mio. population live in the greater Bangui area. Beside
the state broadcaster Radiodifusion-Télévision
Centrafricaine and Roman Catholic Radio
Notre Dame there are also FM relays of international
stations Radio France Internationale
and Africa No. 1,
a commercial short wave and FM broadcaster for the franco-phone Africa.
While there is some FM broadcasting in the capital, there is no nation
wide FM service in the Central African Republic. For national coverage
Radiodifusion-Télévision Centrafricaine has to rely on traditional
AM broadcasting as do the international broadcasters mentioned.

Radio
Minurca (1998-2000)With equipment donated
by the Danish government the United Nations Mission in the Central African
Republic set up Radio Minurca (acronym of Mission des Nations Unies en
RCA). The station went on the air on July 24, 1998 and concentrated on
civic education and the electoral process of upcoming legislative elections.Radio Minurca
started broadcasting on FM in and around the capital Bangui (100.8 MHz,
500 W), and later on short wave, for the whole country (5900/9900 kHz,
20 kW, later 125/1000 W). Most of Radio Minurca 's daytime programmes were
produced locally in Bangui, originally in French and then translated for
rebroadcast in the local language, Sango. In the evening hours, the station
was also using programmes from Radio France Internationale, BBC World Service,
health features provided by the Panos Institute in Bamako, and some music
features from Radio Netherlands. The station had a staff of six: a manager,
three announcer-producers and two technicians.In the 19 months
of its existence, Radio Minurca became the most listened to radio station
in Central Africa. Although the station had considerable problems to stay
on the air on short wave there were also some international listeners outside
the Central African Republic. Radio Minurca went off the air on February
1, 2000, when the United Nations finished its mission in the Central African
Republic. The transmitting equipment was transferred to Sierra Leone in
support of another UN project, but Radio Minurca staff intended to continue.

Radio
Ndeke Luka (2000-)Radio Ndeke Luka
("bird of luck" in Sango and in Lingala) signed on on March 27, 2000 and
was able to pick up the audience of Radio Minurca at least on FM 100.8
MHz. The station now run by the Swiss Hirondelle Foundation under UN-supervision
continues to serve as a link between the United Nations, non governmental
organizations and the population. According to its charter the station
is to transmit impartial, rigorous and professional information on subjects
like economical and social development, security, good governance, peace
and human rights. Radio Ndeke Luka is also to become a training centre
for local journalists.The mix of own programming,
UN-programmes and programmes supplied by major international broadcasters
is to provide balanced information on developments and help listeners build
up their opinion from different sources. The weekday schedule runs from
about 6 to 20:30 h local time and includes news headlines or news magazines
on top of the hour. There are daily slots for topical programmes on health
and civic education and while the majority of the programmes are in French,
these are also prepared in Sango. A programme
schedule of April 2001 is available on this site.

Radio
Ndeke Luka on short wave (2003-2005)After some testing
in September 2003, Radio Ndeke Luka started a one hour short wave service.
Within a few weeks Radio Ndeke Luka received reception reports from other
African countries, Europe, North America and Australia. While the original
service was via a short wave station in the United Kingdom (Woofferton
15545 kHz, 300 kW, 170°), the programme changed to Al-Dhabbaya in the
United Arab Emirates for the winter 2003/04.The new site also
meant that the station was less reported by international listeners. While
the back-lobe from Woofferton went into North America, the Al Dhabbaya
beam provides secondary reception in South America.From the Summer
season 2004 Radio Ndeke Luka returned to Woofferton-UK.In Summer 2005 short
wave transmissions were ended for financial reasons.

state-owned Radio
Centrafrique in dire straightsIn March 2004, Radio
Centrafrique's director, Delphine Zouta, warned that the station could
be forced to stop broadcasting despite the upcoming elections. Radio Centrafrique
was using equipment nearly 50 years old and highly unreliable which finally
confined the station to FM in the capital. A story originating from PANA
on the French-language website of CentrAfrique Presse (www.centrafrique-presse.com/showarticle.php?articleID=725,
dated 12 Oct 2004) mentioned a meeting in Paris in October 2004 to discuss
a plan of rescue for Radio Bangui. According to the source, the possibility
of renting airtime via Africa No 1, Moyabi was considered, if funds could
not be raised for a new transmitter (F.CFA 100 million, about 150.000 EUROs).In late 2004 short
wave listeners noted broadcasts of Radio Centrafrique Bangui relayed via
French transmitters: „La Chaine National de Radio Centrafricaine emettent
de Bangui“ was heard 17.00-23.00 h UTC on 9590 kHz (Issoudun 500 kW, 156°),
although the station continued announcing its own 41 m frequency and FM.
Regular observation revealed severe technical problems. The audio quality
sent from Bangui is terrible and unstable. Sometimes the transmitter carries
RFI instead or signs off earlier than 23.00 UTC.Observers speculate
that the French government wanted to help the state broadcaster ahead of
the elections in the Central African Republic on 13 February 2005, because
Radio Ndeke Luka was seen as a voice of the opposition.

Coup Leader Takes
Early Lead in CAR Presidential Election (13 March 2005)Voters in the Central African Republic
are turning out in very large numbers in post-conflict elections. Coup
leader turned interim President Francois Bozize faces 10 challengers in
the main presidential poll, while a new parliament is also being selected.
A candidate will need more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright
in the first round, or there will be a second round between the top
two finishers. The same system applies to the 105 seats in parliament.Because
of a late start and long lines, many polling stations in the capital extended
voting for several hours. Authorities said several men who were seen handing
out fake voting cards had been arrested.Early results in the presidential election
gave coup leader turned Interim-President Francois Bozize the early lead.
Mr. Bozize overthrew a largely corrupt, but elected government in March
2003. At the time, General Bozize had said he would only ruleduring a transitional
period, but then he changed his mind, saying a lot of work was left to
do. Partial results indicate Mr. Bozize did well in Bangui, as well as
other southern and western regions. But opposition militants say it is
too early to tell. former military ruler (1981-1993) Andre Kolingba seemed
to finish a strong second to Mr. Bozize. In third place is former prime
minister Martin Ziguele. Both did not vote themselves, because they did
not have their own voting cards, since they have been living in exile.
The eight other presidential candidates have fared poorly. Toppled President
Ange-Felix Patasse, whose two elected terms were marred by corruption,
civil strife, and militia activity, was barred from running.Legislative elections for a new 105-member
parliament also took place. Results remain unclear as more than 900 candidates
took part in the election that also has a two-round system. No date has
been set for the second round. Sunday's voting was marked by high turnout
as well as logistical delays. Opposition militants said there had been
cheating involving fake voting cards, but international and national monitors
said these allegations had not been proven. Observers from the international
organization of French-speaking nations were on hand as monitors.(VoA news 13/14 March 2005 abrigded by
Dr. Biener)

CAR Minister apologises for comparing
independent radio station to RTLMThe Minister of Communication in the Central
African Republic (CAR) has apologised after comparing an independent radio
station to the Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines
(RTLM) which incited the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The minister in question,
Fidèle Ngouandjika, had on October 19 accused the independent Radio
Ndeke Luka of being "Radio Mille Collines"."I apologise. Forgive", said the minister
who was faced with a multitude of protests and threats of a law suit by
all journalists in Central Africa. Ngouandjika had earlier barred the national
radio and television stations from broadcasting a message from the Haut
Conseil de la Communication (Communication Council) condemning his statement.
The minister who had been the manager for President Francois Bozize's election
campaign last year however warned journalists not to take advantage of
his apology and "bar my route".Radio Ndeke Luka is an independent radio
station set up by Fondation Hirondelle. It has been broadcasting in local
languages since 2000 but had recently stopped nation wide coverage on shortwave
for financial reasons. Fondation Hirondelle's leadership had earlier written
a protest letter to the prime Minister of the Central African Republic
and declared its support for the Central African journalists.(Fondation Hirondelle via Radio Netherlands
Media Network 17.11.2005)